ArticleHealth expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy2017
The power of symbolic capital in patient and public involvement in health research.
Article in Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Patient and Public Involvement Work With Parents of Children With Life-Limiting Conditions and Bereaved Parents: A Rapid Systematic Review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Pooled it
- Meaningful patient and public involvement in digital health innovation, implementation and evaluation: A systematic review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2022Pooled it
- Current trends in patient and public involvement in cancer research: A systematic review.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2019Pooled it
- A report on parent involvement in planning a randomised controlled trial in neonatology and lactation - insights for current and future research.International breastfeeding journal · 2022Trial
- Structured patient and public involvement programme development in low- and middle-income country health research: a scoping review of evidence gaps and a framework for future practice.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Review
- Patient and public perceptions of involvement and engagement in healthcare research: a descriptive exploratory qualitative study in Hong Kong.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- A critical reflective analysis of patient and public involvement in a programme of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction research.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- From tokenism to transformation: lessons from the TOGETHER study for building inclusive and equitable research.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- Experiences of current practice, priorities and strategies for enabling meaningful consumer and community involvement collaborations in health and medical research in Queensland, Australia.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- Facilitators and Barriers of Relatives' Involvement in Care of Patients With Acquired Brain Injury or Malignant Brain Tumour: Scoping Review.Nursing open · 2026Article
- Mixed identity is an identity: embracing the people involved in research partnerships.BMJ open · 2025Review
- Involvement of underserved 18-40 year olds living with early-onset type 2 diabetes in the M3 NIHR programme grant.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Article
- The ultimate power play in research - partnering with patients, partnering with power.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Article
- The pedagogical liminality of patient and public involvement in initial healthcare professional education: an umbrella review.Research involvement and engagement · 2025Review
- The Importance of Lived Experience: A Scoping Review on the Value of Patient and Public Involvement in Health Research.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- How to Promote the Development of Nurses' Moral Competence According to Patient Representatives: A European Qualitative Study.Journal of nursing management · 2025Article
- Article
- Establishing patient partners' roles on research teams: a scoping review.Research involvement and engagement · 2024Article
- Commercial influences on patient and public involvement: a renewed call for research and action.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- Involving Knowledge Users in Health Services Research: Collective Reflections and Learning From a National Evaluation of Recurrent Miscarriage Services.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2024Article
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPolicy-makers and health research funders increasingly require researchers to demonstrate that they have involved patients in the design and conduct of research. However, the extent to which patients and public have the power to get involved on an equal footing is dependent on their economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital.
objectiveTo explore power relations in patient and public involvement (PPI) in research, particularly how patients may wield symbolic capital to develop a more equal relationship.
methodsNarrative interviews with a maximum variation sample of 38 people involved as patients, carers or public in health research, analysed thematically.
findingsSymbolic capital may be demonstrated in a range of ways (sometimes alongside or in the absence of other forms of capital): illness experience, technical illness knowledge and the challenging outsider. Symbolic capital is unstable and dependent on others for recognition and legitimacy. Nonetheless, participants identify a gradual shift in power relations over time. DISCUSSION AND
conclusionsResearch into PPI has been conceptually and theoretically poor, limiting our understanding of its mechanisms and wider contextual elements. Our findings demonstrate the importance of reflecting on the forms of power and capital wielded by the health research community, and of acknowledging the way in which PPI is challenging the status quo. As one of the first papers to conceptualize how different forms of symbolic capital operate and their critical role in challenging the balance of power, our findings may help researchers better plan their PPI activities and reflect on their own power.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.